Table 1 General description of the neurodegenerative diseases discussed in this article

Alzheimer's disease (AD)

Memory loss and behavioral abnormalities.

Loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions.

Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.

APP, PS1, PS2, APOE4, CALHM1...

[96–100]

Parkinson's disease (PD)

Resting tremor, postural instability, gait disturbance, bradykinesia, and rigidity.

Dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc).

Aggregated protein deposits named Lewy bodies (LB) composed of α-synuclein.

Parkin, DJ-1, PINK1, LRRK2

[101–103]

Huntington's disease (HD)

Chorea, psychiatric disturbances, and cognitive impairments.

Loss of medium spiny neurons (MSN). The area affected are mainly the striatum (caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus), and also the frontal and temporal cortex.

Accumulation and aggregation of mutant Huntingtin (containing 36 or more polyglutamine (polyQ) expansions in the N-terminal of Huntingtin).

Htt

[104–107]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Muscle weakness, muscular atrophy, spasticity, and eventually paralysis.

Motoneurons of the spinal cord, cortex and brain stem.

Intraneuronal aggregates including Bunina bodies, ubiquitinated inclusions, neurofilament-rich "hyaline conglomerate inclusions".

SOD1

[108–111]